After extensive public discussion and
input, during a lengthy and open budget process that started in our
schools, the Board of Education has adopted the Proposed School
Budget in the amount of $193,324,596 for the 2011-12 school year. The
increase over last year's budget is 1.99 percent--this
budget-to-budget increase is the lowest in 15 years. The
increase in the amount to be raised by real property tax is 1.99
percent.

Almost all of the increase is for
mandated items not controlled by the school district. These include
countless Federal and State mandates, Social Security, pension funds,
unemployment insurance, workers' compensation, the MTA commuter
transportation tax imposed by New York State last year, health
insurance, and Medicare reimbursements.

Board of Education President Barbara
Berkowitz said, "Our School Board is responsible for establishing a
budget that provides the best education possible and, at the same
time, is responsive to the pressures on all segments of our
community. These are difficult days, never experienced in many of our
lifetimes. Although painful, we have found ways to cut more than $4.5
million without the loss of quality and services to children. The
cuts we made allow us to preserve the continuity of the programs we
cherish. We have allocated almost three quarters of every dollar for
instruction, which is always our priority. We have worked hard to
guarantee that the budget is not frivolous. We have tremendous
concern about the impact of taxes on our residents and we are
grateful for their continued support of public education in our
community."

Board Trustee Donald Ashkenase said,
"The State is advocating a tax cap of 2 percent for the 2012-13
school year, which we hope will be paired with mandate relief. A tax
cap without mandate relief would present a real challenge for
2012-13. The impending tax cap has impacted our budget thinking for
2011-12. We will be operating as if a 2 percent tax cap is already in
effect."

Dr. Thomas Dolan, superintendent of
schools, said, "We reduced the amount of the operating budget that
contributes to the undesignated fund balance and budgeted hard
numbers to compensate for the increases in mandated items. Clearly,
this is something we can only do once. Mandate relief is the only
safety valve that remains, other than sacrificing programs, which we
hope not to do."

Dr. Dolan continued, "On the revenue
side, there is a considerable, six-figure loss in this budget.
Primarily, these losses are in State aid and legislative grants.
However, despite our cuts and revenue losses, we are committed to
maintaining small class size and the breadth of course offerings and
activities, including research programs, athletics, robotics, opera,
DECA, and staff development, to name a few. Teaching positions were
reduced this year due to attrition; next year, we have maintained all
teaching positions. These are all part of a budget that meets the
needs of the educational community and yet is fiscally responsive to
those not directly connected to our pre-K through high school
program."

Major reductions in the proposed
budget include: (1) elimination of contingency funds, which are built
into many codes for unbudgeted expenditures that cannot be
anticipated or are unknown at the time the budget is finalized, and
(2) the retirement of three long-time administrators and 17 teachers,
who will be replaced by those who command lower salaries. School
district administrators have initiated a voluntary wage freeze for
the second year in a row. Mr. Ashkenase said, "We admire the
administrators for their sensitive approach, as any raise has to be
offset by reductions."

Trustee Susan Miner-Healy added, "We
are ensuring that our diverse district continues to provide a safe
and nurturing environment where each and every child is helped to
reach his or her fullest potential."

Last year, major reductions in the
budget totaled more than $5 million. These included eliminating
a central administrative position and that of environmental-safety
consultant, reduction of 10.40 elementary and 11.46 secondary
teachers due to attrition, reduction of hourly teachers, teaching
assistants, paraprofessional monitors, clerical staff members,
coaches, and cleaners, reduction of elementary before school and
academic enrichment programs, reduction of elementary and secondary
intramurals, and reduction of technology projects. Also, user fees
for K-12 summer programs and the Adult Program were
increased.

County Establishes Actual Tax
Rates

In Nassau County, boards of education
are not legally permitted to set actual tax rates and assessments of
property. This is done by the County, based on its assessed valuation
of property. To minimize the impact of the County's shift of property
tax burdens to homeowners and away from businesses and utilities, the
Great Neck Board of Education has been proactive in promoting
legislation to eliminate the shift or to cap the increases caused by
the shift to 1 percent (rather than the 5 percent allowable by law).

While there is no meaningful way to
predict what impact the tax-rate increase will have on an
individual's property tax, our Class I (homeowner) school tax rate
continues to be the second lowest of the 62 school taxing districts
in Nassau County.

Independent Audits

An annual, external, independent
audit of every public school district is required by State Education
Law/Commissioner of Education Regulations. The certified public
accounting firm of Cullen & Danowski, LLP, the district's
independent auditor, consistently presents extremely favorable
reports on the management of finances, emphasizing a strong financial
position, including wise investments and an excellent control system
of checks, balances, and procedures supported by Board of Education
policies. Also, a required internal audit of risk assessments was
performed by the firm of Nawrocki Smith, LLP. The district again
received satisfactory reports.

Board Vice President Fran Langsner
said, "Over the years, all of our external and internal audits have
validated the extreme care our business department takes in making
sure our tax dollars are spent wisely. Our books are always open for
oversight by the taxpayers."

Government-Mandated
Services

The school district is required to
provide a substantial number of mandated services imposed by the
Federal, State, and County governments, without sufficient aid to
meet their costs. As a result, significant associated costs must be
borne by the district.

Our State aid has been on the decline
for 21 years, spiraling downward from 11 percent of our budget to a
projected low of less than 3.5 percent for next year.

The district is mandated by State law
to provide transportation, textbooks, and health and other services
to about 1,500 students who reside here but attend over 80 private,
parochial, and special-education schools. Transportation, alone, is
budgeted at a cost of about $5,795,000 for these students. Over the
years, State aid to the district for transportation has plummeted
from 90 percent of the total cost to about 4.5 percent.
Ms. Langsner said, "Even though it may go unused, we are
required by law to provide a seat for every child who is eligible for
busing. As a result, buses are not filled to capacity. Legislative
relief for transportation doesn't seem to be happening
soon."

Revenue &
Savings

More than $10 million in revenue
other than property taxes is anticipated in 2011-12 from various
sources, including tuition from nonresident students, Adult Program
fees, driver education fees, summer program fees, rental of space in
school-district buildings by community groups, interest on deposits
and investments, and State aid.

The Great Neck school district
participates in a number of successful, cost-saving, cooperative
ventures with neighboring districts and with Nassau BOCES (Board of
Cooperative Educational Services), particularly in the areas of
insurance, transportation, purchasing, and special
education.

Cost-saving efforts continue in many
areas related to energy efficiency, technology upgrades, and
communications. A fiber-optic Wide Area Network (WAN) connects
14 buildings, enabling the district to centralize information
systems and consolidate voice, data, and video services in a
cost-effective manner. The WAN facilitates a modern phone system at a
significant annual savings for phone service. The WAN also supports
two important parent-communication systems: ParentLink and Infinite
Campus Parent Portal. The WAN will also support new video
surveillance systems to monitor parking lots and entrances to our
buildings for improved security.

Additionally, the school district
reaps annual savings of 40 percent for all Internet, pager, local,
long distance, and cellular phone service through participation in
the Federal E-Rate program. Since 1996, when E-Rate was enacted, the
district has received over $1.9 million in
reimbursements.

Two years ago, a cost-effective,
major energy-enhancing project replaced many district boilers (some
60 years old), added solar-electricity panels on our four large
secondary schools, and renovated and improved all heating-system
controls. This was accomplished entirely from energy savings, with a
guarantee of no additional net costs for the improvements.

For More
Information

Copies of the 2011-12 Proposed Budget
are available at the Phipps Administration Building, 345 Lakeville
Road. Reference copies can be found in the schools and public
libraries. It is also on the district Web site: greatneck.k12.ny.us.
For more information about the School Budget, voter registration,
absentee ballots, and voting, please call 441-4020.